New Pathways for NbS to Realise and Achieve SDGs and Post 2015 Targets: Transformative Approaches in Resilience Building

The year 2015 saw a momentous transformation in the global environment and development agenda with the signing of Sustainable Development Goals, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Paris Agreement on Climate Change. These milestone agreements promise to transform the way global community deal with environmental issues and strive to achieve sustainable development. A number of planned other global initiatives such as post 2020 biodiversity framework and IUCN’s World Conservation Congress promise additional avenues for realising global goals and targets at ground to global level. This will of course require sustainable approach both in their planning and implementing strategies. Nature-based solution (NbS)-related interventions inspired from nature’s tremendous capacity to address the challenges facing the societies today bridges this gap by offering multiple opportunities. For example, to address the complex task of meeting SDGs at a local scale, NbS can provide cost-effective and no-regret solutions. This chapter shares experiences of the key challenges and opportunities in implementing NbS interventions at a local level. It highlights the key entry points for NbS through community-led initiatives and mainstreaming these in government plans and programmes. The chapter contents suggest the road ahead for NbS to address the post 2015 development and post COP 21 climate adaptation agenda and beyond by identifying specific role for communities, private sectors and government agencies.